Debrief in Guatapé, Colombia

Wow! There are so many fun stories and amazing memories I cannot wait to share with you about my week at debrief! It was so relaxing, peaceful, and a blast overall. For those of you who don’t know, after most countries, we have a week long break called debrief. It is meant to help us look back and reflect on the work we had done in the previous season and find ways to grow and improve in the next. We have separate debriefs for each team  to debrief on their own and reflect more as a team as well. We also had worship and teachings every morning and some in the afternoon/evening time as well. Normally, this week is spent off of the ministry site. Our squad took a bus to Guatapé, which was about 2 hours away from Medellín! We stayed on this hotel/cabaña property that had a game room with pool, ping pong, and a TV space, a dock on the beach, a volleyball net, and a ton of outdoor spaces and pavilion type things to sit and enjoy being in nature. The vibes of this place were immaculate and I loved every minute being there (except when the water was turned off random times throughout the week, which was actually quite funny but a little inconvenient haha). This space was exactly what we needed after being in a very busy and quite dangerous city.

I spent most of my time outside, sitting in the sun or swimming in the lake. If you know me, I LOVE swimming. It is one of my most favorite things to do, which made this week even better. I got up for 2 sunrise swims and spent every bit of free time in the water except for when I went into town. I almost have a backflip down and practiced my diving quite a bit. As one of the squads storytellers (social media, blogs, etc.) we have a GoPro to share, which I definitely took advantage of in the water! I had lots of fun taking videos and pictures jumping off the dock.

Besides the fun, there was a time where I became very frustrated. We arrived on Sunday night and my plan was to swim ALL the time. Since I went into town all of Monday, I didn’t get to swim with everyone in the afternoon and was pretty bummed that I missed that time with the squad, but got to swim for a few minutes before dinner by myself which was very peaceful. Tuesday, I could not wait to swim with everyone, but after 2 minutes of being in the water, one of the dogs bit my upper thigh as I was jumping off the dock. I had to go to the hospital to check for rabies and wasn’t allowed in the water for about another day. I was extremely upset because all I had been wanting to do was swim, but for some reason, things kept getting in the way (side note- I didn’t have rabies, the wound is healing, and I am healthy!). Something fun that came out of the dog bite was that one of the hotel staff, Carlos, would always say “Hola Ellie, is your bite okay?” and it was nice to talk to him every once in a while.

After all that, I did find very enjoyable moments in the water! We had a boat day where our coaches rented a giant 50 person boat that took us on a drive and docked in front of the big rock! We swam, ate the most delicious Doritos (which are a slightly different flavor from the USA and are better, ‘mega queso’ is the flavor) and had Quatro (which is a soda in Colombia that we all adore) and danced a lot on the boat! It was the perfect afternoon. I stayed in the water for another hour after we docked and had some great laughs and conversation with my mentor, Alyssa.

Another highlight of debrief week was Friendsgiving! Throughout the afternoon, each team took turns cooking a separate dish for dinner that night! We all dressed up, took pictures in the beautiful courtyard, and had a squad dinner in the restaurant which the hotel graciously let us use. It was a wonderful night being all together, laughing, talking, and sharing a delicious meal. We had worship that night and desserts as well!

Off the hotel property, I had lots of opportunity to explore and take pictures when I went into town. Guatapé was about a 20 minute drive, but it was pretty difficult to leave the property. Ubers were not very common in this area because the town wants transportation revenue to go towards the tuk tuk cars. And with those, you had to pay in pesos, which we were all running low on since we were leaving the country in only a couple of days. But with 40 people, we managed to scrap some together. I absolutely  loved the town! It was so vibrant and colorful and I was always in awe of my surroundings. Every street was different somehow, either with the colors or the paintings on the side of the buildings. There were colorful tuk tuks and motorbikes everywhere which made it even more interesting.

I also climbed the big rock! It was over 700 stairs and had the prettiest view of the lake. An average time up the rock is about 20 minutes, and we got up in 12! We were so proud of each other and were happy to have made it up quickly. It was such a neat experience and something Kyah and I have been dying to do since arriving in Colombia! We also went into town again that day, explored and just had a great last day in Colombia. We left for the airport that night!

I took many different pictures throughout the week which are posted to my photography instagram, @ellie_vphotography   Go give it a follow!

Thanks for reading this blog about debrief, it truly was the BEST week and am so blessed with the last few moments of being all squad!

Next blog: 78 hour travel day!

Lots of love!

~Ellie